Elijah Ocean began writing songs at thirteen years old in Maine where he picked up the guitar and fell deeply in love with songwriting. His journey has taken him to New York City and California before finally settling down in Music City. He just released his latest album, Born Blue, which we think you’ll love.
Born Blue:
Born Blue consists of twelve tales that span over five years from all corners of Elijah’s world; each one sounding like they came from a similar voice and belong together seamlessly. He started with 30 potential songs and settled on the strongest ones that painted a complete picture.
The album begins with “Livin’ to Love You,” a sweet song about finding true love and moves right into “In a Perfect World,” which is about a girl leaving. The entire album goes through ups and downs, dealing with situations that will resonate with many people.
“Thirty Five”
“Thirty Five” is a song that a lot of people can relate to. It’s about feeling much younger than you really are and acting like it. When asked what advice he’d give his younger self, he responded that he’d tell himself not to worry about an end date for his career. “I just saw the trajectory of artists in history peaking in their 20s,” he began. “I’ve since come to realize that it’s just not really how it works, especially in this day and age.”
He noted the importance of building a sustainable career for the long run. “Now it’s like – I just want to be doing this when I’m 80,” he said. “Everyone is on their own path and has to forge their own way.”
“Losin’ My Memory”
“Losin’ My Memory” jumped out to me when I heard the dual meaning of the song. A person can lose their memory due to memory loss or forgetting the memory of a past love. “I imagine it being an old man song,” he said. “He’s kind of in denial – he really hasn’t lost the memory of this person because he’s talking about it.” He’s trying to get over someone while actually losing his memory.
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Elijah Ocean Talks About Writing
Songwriting is an excellent way to tell a story, whether it’s personal or about someone else. I always envy those that are willing to put their feelings to music and put it out there for the world to hear.
Ocean explained what that’s like. “I guess writing songs is the way I process emotions over the years. I write songs to figure out what’s going on, you know, almost like a journal.” He added, “I don’t always know what the songs are really about sometimes, until after.”
It’s something he’s always done and that’s how he relates to the world. He said he’s aware that people might listen and wonder whether the stories in his songs are things that really happened. “I guess I don’t really worry about it that much,” he admitted.
“I tend to write about things that happen to me, but also inflate them with things that are happening in my imagination or other things people have told me,” he shared.
Music is a powerful way to tell stories. Some songs are autobiographical but some of them may not be what the artist has experienced at all and that doesn’t make it any less interesting or engaging because storytelling can transcend boundaries.
Born Blue is an excellent album and we look forward to hearing more of Ocean’s work. Luckily, he already has a new batch of songs written and is on track for releases in the future. For more information on Elijah Ocean, visit http://www.elijahocean.com/.
